A man enters a party with many new people. To join in and as an attempt to connect with these unfamiliar people he makes a joke. Everyone stares at him, no one laughs. The joke falls flat because it was loaded with harsh humour and this party was not the best place to share it. At this point, the man probably experiences feeling a sense of shame after seeing the response. He looks awkward and becomes quiet. It is an uncomfortable situation for all.

A central hypothesis in Bodynamic Analysis concerns the time period in which individual muscles come under voluntary control. There is observed to be a critical time period in which they acquire an imprint. This imprint is not simply about physical strength or kinesthetic ability. It concerns the psychological content or issue associated with the activity or function of this muscle. Thus the muscle encodes or "remembers" what happened in the emotional/ psychological environment in the time period in which it came under conscious control.

Because of new research into child development, the developmental perspective has captured the attention of the therapeutic community for the last fifteen years, and it is transforming the way therapy is being carried out. Most schools of body psychotherapy have also been deeply impacted by this shift, but most have had to rely on theories that address primarily psychological development to inform their work. In this interview, I discuss the formation of a truly somatically based theory of human development with its founder, Lisbeth Marcher.

Since the mid-80s, the Bodynamic System has developed new ways to work with trauma and stress-related conditions by incorporating the body in a very concrete, physical manner. In this article we describe how we work with the Ego split that is caused by shock.

Overcoming Shock Trauma and PTSD Bodynamics Training for the Ukrainian veterans is aimed at the post traumatic growth of the combat operations participants and is based on the “equal to equal” principle. The training is created by Ditte Marcher, Director of Bodynamics International, and is based on the 30 years of experience working in the war zones. The training was first carried out in Denmark for the Danish veterans in 2013-2014, and the veteran organization VaKa was established as the result. The first training in Ukraine was taught by Ditte Marcher and the Ukrainian assistants in 2015 based on the contract and the request of the Healing War Scars organization.

A family brought in their 8-month-old infant. The problem was, the family’s daily commute (1 hour to work and 1 hour back again) meant that the baby sat in her car seat, crying more or less loudly for two hours every day. The crying became too much for the parents, so they came for help. Our intake interview revealed that the safety belt diagonally crossed the baby’s body, thereby touching the baby’s throat. It was also revealed that during the birth process the umbilical cord was around the baby’s neck.

When we work with clients or train therapists one of the models we use is - a "Model of energy fields", developed by Lisbeth Marcher. This energy model is especially inspired by Danish spiritual teacher Jes Bertelsen and Lisbeth’s studies of intercultural issues. We use this model to find out how an issue that we are working with interrelates in the greater picture. It is important for us to know which other fields the issue has to be integrated with.

When I work, I use both verbal and non-verbal interventions. I analyze, I make contracts, I integrate cognitive, behavioral, somatic and social elements, I touch (in ways that can be supportive, neutral and/or evoking), I work from ethical guidelines, I teach and I confront, I use developmental theory and character structure theory, I use transference and countertransference concepts, and much more. My intention is to help clients with issues that prevent them from functioning in the world, help them to overcome obstacles and to develop new resources.

In terms of understanding the scientific validation of The Bodynamic System, we alternate between calling it The Bodynamic System (Analysis), The Bodynamic Analysis, Bodynamic Analysis and The Bodynamic System. It is the same, but occurs owing to a recent name change from Analysis to System, which signals that our System includes so many models and concepts, and that we traverse (go across) officially recognized boundaries between different professional disciplines.